Why UpScalio is betting on the utility sector to make it big in the rollup space
In a recent conversation with YourStory’s Daily Dispatch powered by HSBC, Nitin Agarwal, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer, UpScalio talks about the company’s journey and discusses roadmaps for the future.
Gurugram-based rollup ecommerce firm
has been in the news lately with a slew of acquisitions. The latest acquisition of home and gardening brand Truphe took place in January 2022 — which marks the company’s 10th acquisition to date.Speaking about the company, Nitin Agarwal, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer, UpScalio tells YourStory’s Daily Dispatch that the last nine months have been great for the company. “Within a very short period, we gathered together 10 very bright and exciting brands in the UpScalio house,” he says. He adds that his personal journey helped him a great deal in tackling situations.
He shares that the company is nearing the close of their first wave of acquisitions — which had started in October 2021 — and are currently looking out for more brands to acquire. “The depth in the ecosystem is huge, which means there are more such brands out there which could be the right fit for UpScalio,” says Nitin. The company also has a growth team that focuses on managing the growth of the brands that they have onboarded.
In terms of acquisitions, UpScalio is more focused on the utility categories, wherein there is longevity in products and space to create numerous online brands. “We are looking at doing another 10-15 acquisitions, so by 2023, we should have about 30 brands in our portfolio,” shares Nitin.
Nitin explains that even though there are several rollup firms in the ecosystem, there’s a lot of new D2C brands are also coming up. While rollup firms cater to different categories, for UpScalio, the focus is on utility where there is a healthy pool to pick from. “The difference is vis-a-vis any of the consumer sectors, this is not a winner takes all market,” he says.
Commenting on the investment, Nitin mentions that capital is a raw material for acquisitions in this line of business. As of now, UpScalio is very well capitalised and their investment pipeline is quite healthy as well. In terms of revenue, he shares that the company is already touching Rs 300 crore and their focus is on touching the billion-dollar mark as soon as they can.
Edited by Kanishk Singh